In the Netherlands, women's soccer just got a bit more glamorous. An Amateur team has received approval to ditch traditional shorts from their uniform and instead play in skirts, according to this article. It's not the first time such a request has been made by regulating officials, but it's the first time it's been approved. Of the decision to switch to skirts, team captain Rinske Temming says, "We think they are far more elegant than the traditional shorts and furthermore they are more comfortable because the shorts are made for men."

There's one catch though -- shorts must be worn underneath the skirts, but 'hot pants' (I'm guessing these are really tight stretchy shorts) are acceptable.

I've mentioned before that I personally didn't like the idea of running in skirts, but what do you think?

Source

I can't tell you how many pairs of athletic pants I've purchased only to find that I'm unable to wear them with actual athletic shoes because they're just too short. While I'm taller than average, I'm no giant, so I can't imagine how difficult it is for truly tall women to find yoga or warm up pants that don't show their socks.

I noticed about a year ago that Victoria's Secret offered yoga pants in long lengths, and I was so excited. Just so you understand, I'm not that concerned about how I look while I'm working out, but I like to have casual athletic pants for errands I run before or after the gym, and yoga pants are perfect for that. So, I went online to order, and get this: the pants were $29 to start with (alright, fine), and then when shipping (standard, within two weeks or so) and tax were added on, they came to nearly $40!

That's why I was ecstatic to find these C9 by Champion pants at Target available in long length. They're only $19.99 (there's another style available for $29.99), they're good quality, and THEY'RE LONG! I only see them in the store on occasion, but they are available online as well. They're also available in short length, so my vertically challenged girlfriends needn't feel left out, either.

Woo hoo! I'll never look like I'm getting ready to do yoga in a flood again!

Source

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hi Fitz! My 12-year-old daughter has started getting into fitness, all on her own motivation. She's always been on the thin side, and is certainly a healthy weight...and a fairly healthy eater. She said she wants to work out to build muscle and put on a few pounds (certainly not what you usually hear from girls at that age group). I want to support her, but I also want to be sure she is doing things in a healthy age-appropriate way.

She lives with her dad and we live in different states, which certainly makes matters more complicated. If she lived with me we could figure out ways to exercise together. Her dad and his girlfriend are both overweight with unhealthy habits. Any suggestions on how to get started? And is there anything she shouldn't be doing yet or things I should look out for? Thanks, Judy

Hello Miss Judy. You ask a great question and are smart to be both excited and leery of the situation. A child of 12 eager to pursue true fitness is an absolute gift. It is also a perfect point for that child's parent to stop and evaluate the situation, to make sure it's addressed correctly.

Source

For those who checked out my 30-minute and 40-minute treadmill workouts and thought "No Way" or for those who tried them and want something more, I've got a new one. This one lasts for just 15 minutes and is the perfect companion on a weight training day, when you don't want to go overboard on the cardio. Here it is.

Walk 1 minute at 3.5 mph
Walk 1 minute at 4 mph
Run 3 minutes at 6.5 mph
Run 2 minutes at 7 mph
Run 1 minute at 7.5 mph
Walk 30 seconds at 3.5 mph
Run 3 minutes at 6.5 mph
Run 2 miles at 7 mph
Run 1 mile at 7.5 mph
Walk 30 seconds at 3.5 mph

I have been thinking about getting bangs cut into my hair for ages. I believe I first got the notion after watching the Devil Wears Prada and admiring Anne Hathaway's super cool fringe. Granted she seems to have great hair all the time but something about those bangs made me wonder if I could attempt something similar.

After that I found myself noticing women on the street who had a fringe. Whether the bangs swooped to the side, were ultra-short or cut straight across their eye line, I thought they all looked pretty great. So after weeks of careful deliberation I took the plunge and headed to the hairdresser.

Before I the cutting began, we had a chat about which of the various fringe styles would best suit me. I didn't think I could pull off the cute but really short look and didn't think the swoop would be a dramatic enough change. So we agreed to try that straight across the forehead, just above the eyes style. I was nervous to begin with because if the look didn't work for me I had no idea how I'd hide it while my hair grew back out.

Source

Take a walk through my great aunt's 17th-century home in England and you'll find substantial proof that people were much shorter 33 years ago. The American population has been getting steadily taller over the years ... until now. Americans are getting shorter on average every year. And it's not happening in Europe or other countries in the world -- it's just here.

What's the reason? Well, just as proper nutrition is the reason why we've been getting taller, our nutrition, or lack thereof, is to blame for the shrinking phenomenon as well. So even though we're smart enough to make huge strides in our health by improving our nutrition over time, we're stupid enough to disregard those nutritional advances in favour of junk food that in ultimately killing us. It's amazing, really. In a way, we're actually going backwards on the evolutionary scale, don't you think?

(via Diet Blog)

Source

In order to be really honestly "fit," your heart and your cardiovascular system have to be ready for anything. You might notice that if you workout exactly the same way every day, and then you suddenly try something new, you might suddenly feel really out of shape when you didn't before. But throwing sudden bursts of intense exercise into an otherwise "routine" routine can really improve your heart's ability to respond to sudden demands, which will improve your overall fitness and get you to the results you're looking for that much faster.

And did you know (this seems like an outrageously high percentage!) that high intensity interval exercise like this can reduce the risk of heart disease by as much as 100% compared to those who only work on endurance? Wow.

Source

The airbag is a wonderful invention, and it saves countless lives every year. But airbags can also be dangerous in their own right, because they need to deploy so quickly and with such force. It's already a well-known fact that young children are at risk for injury from airbags, but some adults are too?

A new study shows that although airbags do a good job at decreasing injuries for adults of average height, they actually increase the risk of getting hurt for very short and very tall individuals. People under 4'11" run a 4% greater risk of getting seriously hurt, and those over 6'3" run a 5% greater risk.

That's got to be stressful for people who fall into those more dangerous height ranges. Airbags come standard on most vehicles these days, so it's not like the minority of very short or very tall people have the choice to pass on that option when buying a new car.

Source

The debate continues over whether or not being much short should be considered a disability. Dwarfism is a condition recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but that applies only to adults with a height of 4' 10" or smaller. This new debate is about people who are slightly taller than that, 4'11" to 5'3", and have what the medical community calls idiopathic ( which means unexplained) short stature, or ISS.

Children who are growing far behind the normal rates for their ages can be given human growth hormone, but treatments are extremely expensive and most insurance companies won't cover the costs since short stature is not an official disability at this point. Growth hormone supplements are generally safe and better understood now than in the past, but can only add a few inches of total height for most people, leading to a secondary debate over whether the treatment is worth the high costs.

Source